The Champions of Magic Makes its Cleveland Debut at PlayhouseSquare

The Champions of Magic include mind reader and mentalist Alex McAleer.

Wed 12/27-Sun 12/31

If being a mind reader in a group of touring magicians sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the role Woody Harrelson played in the popular Now You See Me films.

That turned out to be good and bad for full-time mind reader and mentalist Alex McAleer, whose mustache and vested look appear as if he’s auditioning for a Hollywood film about vaudeville. He’s also a member of the popular magic touring act, the Champions of Magic, which makes its Cleveland debut this week at PlayhouseSquare’s Connor Palace Theatre.

“Because of the Now You See Me movies, people think I might be out to con them,” laughed McAleer, calling from Norwich, England. “However, Woody Harrelson did a great job. I saw him in an interview and he did a little mentalism trick. A simple one, but he did it perfectly, which shows what a good actor he is and how quickly he picked up those techniques.”

Over the past decade, McAleer’s talents have taken him around the globe performing to sold-out audiences. He’s also authored several books on his technique and lectured to psychology students, mentalists and magicians at the prestigious Magic Circle.

While as a child McAleer dabbled in magic, it wasn’t until his mother passed away when he was 14 years old that he became serious about studying the manipulation techniques of psychics, mentalists and hypnotists. It was around this time that the teenager discovered he had a gift.

“I guess I started initially probably like magicians or performers just doing stuff for friends,” McAleer said. “I had a friend hide her necklace somewhere in the house. That’s an old parlor trick where somebody would find the hidden item by holding the person’s hand.

“They wouldn’t push them around, just feel responses where the object was hidden. It was like playing hot and cold without the person saying or doing anything. So I did that with a friend, who hid a necklace in the house and two minutes later I found it. I thought, ‘Oh, I think this is something I can do.’”

After finding success on his own, McAleer decided to join the Champions of Magic, which for the last three years has been blowing people’s minds around the world.

“We are all specialists in our own particular genre of magic,” McAleer said. “I focus on mentalism and mind reading. Edward Hilsum focuses on the classical style of magic, but it’s updated. Fay Presto is a close-up magician. She was on Penn & Teller’s television show Fool Us.

“Richard Young and Sam Strange are grand illusionists. They do the big stuff, but they’re also are a comedy act. I liken them to Bert and Ernie, but they probably wouldn’t want me to say that. So all of us specialize in what we do. We really we put our own personality into it.”

Considering we’re living in the age of supergroups with the popularity of The Avengers and Justice League movies, does that tag also apply to the Champions of Magic?

“I’d say that’s fair,” McAleer laughed. “I’m a big fan of the Marvel films, so, yeah, I feel like we’re ‘The Avengers of Magic.’ Considering I’ve got facial hair, I’d probably be Tony Stark.”

Being Iron Man means he also has to be a bit snarky.

McAleer quipped, “Oh, the audience will see I’m quite snippy and witty.”

PlayhouseSquare

Cleveland, OH 44115

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